Tails From The Dugout

By Greg Bowman WOW! Unbelievable! That’s how Tiger fans are reacting to Sunday’s exciting come from behind win, as the Tigers scored five times in the bottom of the tenth to beat the Cleveland Indians […]

Should the Detroit Tigers make another trade? Or do you think the deal to get Pitcher Annabelle Sanchez and 2nd baseman Omar Infante was enough to push the team into the postseason? I like the trade, even if the Tigers had to give up their top pitching prospect Jacob Turner.

Well, I told you not to panic. It’s a long season, remember? The Tigers start the final week of July in first place in the AL Central, one and a half games in front of the White Sox. I never worried for a minute.

Maybe you knew that kid in school. Or maybe you were that kid. The one the teachers said had great potential, tested off the charts, but failed to live up to their potential. That’s what the Tigers have reminded me of in the first half of the 2012 season.

Who would you rather have on your team: Curtis Granderson or Austin Jackson? I have always been a huge Granderson fan, and was dumbfounded and outraged when the Tigers traded him to the Yankees for Jackson, as part of a three-team deal. Jackson seemed like a good young player, with a lot of potential. But Granderson was a superstar in making. This season, however, Jackson has moved even or ahead of Granderson in almost every offensive category.

When your power goes out, you probably call DTE Energy or Consumers to get it back on. The Tigers need to report a power outage of their own, but I don’t think the utility company can help. The Tigers are going through another one of those slumps where they just can’t seem to score any runs.

Are you feeling a little better about your Tigers now that they swept their three game weekend series against the Minnesota Twins? Granted, the Twins are a pretty lousy team this season. But these are the same Twins who beat the Tigers two straight at Comerica Park last week …

The only time you would expect to see the names “Brandon Inge” and “Lou Gehrig” in the same sentence would be something to the effect that both men played Major League Baseball. And both were in the American League. But Inge now has the unlikely distinction of being the first player to have at least four rbi’s in four games during a five-game stretch since Gehrig did it way back in 1931.

That’s what we Fantasy Baseball addicts call it. Studs Or Duds. Meaning you have drafted a couple of superstar players and only have money left to fill the rest of your roster with players who cost a buck. Or a quarter in some cases. And not to say silly fantasy baseball is anything like the real deal. But this year’s Tiger team does bear some resemblance to that strategy.

You knew it was bound to happen eventually. The question was when. The news that the Tigers have finally released Brandon Inge comes as bittersweet to those of us who have followed his career in Detroit over the past 12 years. He has had good seasons, bad seasons, and in-between seasons for the Tigers, the only team he has played for in his Major League Career.